


A Way to Forget

by nerdyarts



Series: TUA Creators Bingo [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Diego Hargreeves is Bad at Feelings, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Pre-Canon, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Worth Issues, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, tua creators bingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:35:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23675461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdyarts/pseuds/nerdyarts
Summary: Boxing is Diego Hargreeves escape. Hey, no one ever said he was good with this emotional stuff.
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves/Eudora Patch
Series: TUA Creators Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1704772
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	A Way to Forget

As his fists connected with the bag he tried to forget.

Forget his messed up childhood. The grueling training sessions. How they learned the weak points of the human body instead of algebra. Forget the monster that was his father. How even after Diego had cursed him to hell and back he still couldn't shake the grip the old man had on his life. He was still Number Two, still second best.

Forget all the ways that he'd failed his siblings. How he couldn't stop Five from running away (not that Diego blamed him, he just hoped Five was still alive somewhere out there but it had been 12 years and Diego wasn't naive enough to still believe that). How he failed to save Ben, he didn't remember much from that day, just Klaus's screams, the way the blood seemed to stain his hands, and the fact that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop the way "your fault, it's all your fault" seemed to play on repeat inside his head. And Klaus... (he couldn't even count all the ways he'd managed to fail Klaus).

Forget the way his heart seemed to stop every time a call came through about a dead junkie. How he could feel every muscle in his body tense as he waited to see if the dispatcher mentioned if there were "hello" and "goodbye" tattoos on the hands. Even as he pounded away at the bag, the police radio sat nearby, just in case.

Forget how he was bound to mess up every single good thing that he had in this life. It didn't matter how important the police academy was. It didn't matter that fighting the bad guys was the only thing he'd ever been good at, he was going to end up ruining it. He would end up destroying whatever this thing was between him and Eudora too, he just hoped she would be spared from the inevitable destruction.

He punched to forget. He punched until his knuckles were bruised and bleeding.

Tomorrow Eudora would notice. She would get that look on her face that he hated, the one she always got when he was being a "reckless idiot with no self-preservation skills whatsoever". He hated that lecture, but more than that, he hated disappointing her. Tomorrow she would sigh and shake her head as she handed him a cup of coffee but she wouldn't say anything. Not in front of other people at least. Later, when they were alone she would ask, her voice gentle, like it was when she interviewed witnesses. He would deny everything of course, not willing to let his darkness sully her light. He would fake a grin and make a cheap shot at someone or something in an attempt to distract her. She would let him.


End file.
